Speed and Stopping Distance at Night
Posted: Fri Aug 30, 2013 10:35 pm
A common rule I hear is that at night you should only drive at a speed that would enable you to stop within the distance your headlights show to be clear. I have read the distance you can see with dipped headlights is between 30 and 40 metres.
If this is correct then based on the stopping distances given in the highway code, whenever it is necessary to use dipped beam due to oncoming traffic in the distance it would only be safe to drive on a straight road at between 30 and 40mph.
I just wondered if other drivers on this forum do this too because in practice when doing 40mph or less on an unlit NSL road for a prolonged time due to multiple vehicles heading towards me I always feel like I am driving remarkably slowly and much slower than most drivers tend to do.
If this is correct then based on the stopping distances given in the highway code, whenever it is necessary to use dipped beam due to oncoming traffic in the distance it would only be safe to drive on a straight road at between 30 and 40mph.
I just wondered if other drivers on this forum do this too because in practice when doing 40mph or less on an unlit NSL road for a prolonged time due to multiple vehicles heading towards me I always feel like I am driving remarkably slowly and much slower than most drivers tend to do.